I teach a self-contained special education class at a high school. Even though we are a high school we have grades 6-12. My students come to me in 6th grade and stay till they are 21. We become a family in our years together. I stay in touch with many of my former students. My students all have either Autism or moderate levels on intellectual disabilities. We certainly have some adventures. Many people have told me I should write a book about my years in the classroom. I am not disciplined enough to write a book, so I figured I would begin blogging and perhaps at some point I can put the blogs together to make a book.
Today I will just give some background info on me. I am 43 years old and have been teaching for 20 years. I would have 21, except that I took a year off to work on my doctorate in special education. I decided in 4th grade that I wanted to work with students with disabilities. I received my Bachelors of Ed. from Livingston University(now University of West Alabama). I also received my Masters of Ed. form there. I later received my Education Specialist from the University of Alabama. Several years later I received my Doctorate in Special Ed. from the University of Southern Mississippi.
I have taught at 5 different schools over the last 20 years. I started teaching at Linden Elementary School in Linden Alabama. There I taught a multi-handicapped class. I had students ranging from age 4 to 21. That was an experience. When I moved to Jefferson County, I began teaching at Hillview Elementary, where I taught a self-contained class with students from 3rd grade to 6th grade. I taught there 4 years. After my four years there I moved to Pittman Middle School in Hueytown, Alabama. Here I taught another self-contained class for students in 6th-8th grade. I was there for 4 years, then left for a year to go to the Unviersity of Southern Mississippi. When I returned to Jefferson County, I took a job at Linden Elementary School. Here I taught in a pull-out resource setting. I stayed in this job only one year. I loved the school, but my love is the lower functioning students that are served in a self-contained class. After that year, I transferred to Oak Grove High, where I have been ever since.
Last Tuesday, I was teaching my students a math lesson. We were all gathered around the table in group studying how to read graphs. One student with Down Syndrome, Missy, kept putting her head down and trying to sleep. It was a struggle to keep her awake during the lesson. After the lesson I gave the class a bathroom break. After several minutes, all my students were back in class, except Missy. I told my para I was going to go check on her. I went into the bathroom and only one stall was occupied. I called out her name and received no response. "Missy" I called out again. No response. I knocked on the door "Missy, are you okay". Still no response. I knocked harder, calling out again. Still nothing. I kick the door. Still no response. At this point I am worried. Is she okay? I go back to my classroom and ask my para to join me in the bathroom. She knocks and calls out. Still nothing. After a brief discussion, I stand on the toilet in the stall next to her and look over. There she sits, pants around her ankles, head on the tissue holder, sound asleep. Now, we know from experience that when Missy sleeps, she sleeps hard and is very difficult to wake up. Sandra, my para, goes back to our room and gets a broom, which we use to reach over and unlock the door. So, into the stall I go. Now, just picture, me trying to wake up a child sleeping on the toilet with her pants around her ankles. Gently shaking her, calling out her name....... yeah, 4 degrees and THIS was NEVER covered!!!!
